Anyone Homebrew?

[deepred98]

After talking to my friend who has brewed mead decided to try my hand at brewing some ale. Went to the brewshop in Austin and the guys there helped me get set up equipment wise and pointed me to the recipe book where the "Evil Brown Ale" caught my eye (in addition to the guy telling me that it tastes, and i quote, "wicked pizziola").

So if everything goes according to plan I should have 5 gallons of delicious ale in a month.

With the certified population of beer snobs here, I was wondering if anyone else has tried to homebrew and if so any tips?

Update:

9/8/09:

Pics

9/10/09:

Got back from class and cooked everything up and made the wort. The chocolate hops gave off a fantastic smell while steeping. The hops smell however still lingers in my apt. Transferred to my primary fermenter and now I'm just waiting for fermentation.


Added more pics too

9/12/09:

The OG value before adding the yeast was 1.050 only .001 off from what they said it should be. In the last two days, the yeast has been fermenting up a storm so I should be able to transfer it to my carboy next tuesday or wednesday.

Moar Pics as well

9/15/09:

Primary Fermentation finished. Transferred brew to secondary fermenter, a glass carboy. Now just waiting for the brew to clear so I can bottle and then consume :evil:.

OG value of 1.011 so currently at 5.1% ABV which will be a tiny bit less than the final ABV which is expected to be 5.2ish

Can't wait about 3 weeks till drink time.

Added more pics

9/22/09:

Bottled on Sunday (9/20) but have been busy with school so i haven't had a chance to update the thread.

Anyways, measured the final OG value which is 1.009 now so it will be about 5.3 ~ 5.4% alcohol :evil:.

Had a little taste test while bottling and for being flat and warm it was damned good. Honestly i wouldn't mind drinking a cup of it the way it was... and i did lol.

It is a dark amber/brown colour with a slight hoppy aroma. It tastes very smooth with mostly malt sweetness complemented by a hint of chocolate. Not much bitter hoppy flavour, which though expected is a bit of a let down because i would have preferred the bite added by the bitter. When I went back to talk to the guys at the store they told me it is supposed to be comparable to Pete's Wicked Ale which upon googling seems to have declined of late so hopefully this recipe was based on the late 90's Pete's not the new stuff. However since i've never had the old or new Pete's (was only like 5 when the old one was out and since i can't legally by beer right now haven't gone to try the new stuff) I have no idea how close it is. If anyone has had it feel free to chime in .

Overall, very pleased so far with the beer and the whole experience in general and will definitely get my second batch going soon (thinking about a Pacific Pale Ale or something a bit more bitter and citrousy).

Added some more pics as well.

 

[xSauronx]

theres a few guys here who have. i actually planned on making a thread like this in the future cause this is on my to do list of things i wanna try

you damn well better update this when youre done.

 

[deepred98]

don't worry i love you all too much to syringer y'all

 

[vi edit]

Brew outside or in your garage at the least. Brewing in your home leaves your house smelling like beer. Which sounds cool at first, but not really that cool after it hangs around for a few days.

Boil overs are messy.

When letting it ferment, be sure to do it in a place that can afford some water damage (like a basement).

 

[deepred98]

Update: Steeped the oats, boiled the hops, waiting for the yeast to do its magic.

oh and moar pics!

 

[Beattie]

I homebrew.

Congrats on the first batch. The only tip I have is that it takes more than you think to screw it up. So just try to be careful. No matter what don't worry, relax, and have a homebrew.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Congratz! Are you going to bottle or, keg it? I didn't see any sanitizer in your pics. Did you get some? There are a lot of variables so, don't worry if your batch doesn't follow the recipe timetable very closely. The bigger the beer, higher ABV, the longer it takes in the fermenter. Use a hydrometer to take the guess work out of when to bottle/keg. If you keg it, don't use the primer sugar. Keep us posted and happy brewing!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I don't do beer (not even supposed to drink it now), but I do make limoncello. I do have friends that brew their own, although I believe they primarily brew mead in various combinations and flavors.

 

[imported_Section8]

I can't tell from the pic but make sure your brew pot is non reactive such as stainless steel. Do not use aluminum. How did you cool your wort before pitching the yeast?

 

[bobross419]

:beer:

Also on my to do list a few years down the line

 

[SearchMaster]

I used to homebrew but haven't in several years. At the rate I drink beer these days (probably 2-4 per month), it would take a year or more to finish a batch anyway. I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Tifababy]

I've been homebrewing for about two years. It quickly became an obsession. Before you know if, you have tons of fermentors and multiple fridges/freezers to ferment/condition/serve your delicious homebrew.

 

[djheater]

Homebrewer.
good for you on starting, a lot of people start and have some bad experiences right off the bat which quickly cools the desire to continue. The majority of bad brews are caused by undesirable microorganisms which beat out your yeast, or found a niche in the wort and produced off flavors.
the key to prevent this is sanitation.

Fragrance-free oxiclean, gets rid of organic solids extremely effectively, good for bottle washing.
I can't reccomend Star San enough when it comes to a sanitizer. I mix it up in my primary and then soak everything that will touch my wort in it.

In 30 batches I've had one major infection that resulted in a throw-away.

 

[mrkun]

I'm surprised you need a sanitzer. Shouldn't the alcohol and heat from the boiling kill anything that might grow? I took a wine tasting class at UC Davis and everyone noticed there were lots of live and dead flies and gnats in the wine as it was being fermented and people asked the enologist about it and he said that the alcohol kills everything and that the dead insects are actually an important part of the flavor.

 

[krylon]

Originally posted by: mrkun
I'm surprised you need a sanitzer. Shouldn't the alcohol and heat from the boiling kill anything that might grow? I took a wine tasting class at UC Davis and everyone noticed there were lots of live and dead flies and gnats in the wine as it was being fermented and people asked the enologist about it and he said that the alcohol kills everything and that the dead insects are actually an important part of the flavor.

lol

 

[lokiju]

I used to with someone else that had most the gear.

Came out great last time though.

Was a huge hit.

I don't talk to that person anymore though and have really been wanting to get all the gear for myself so I can do it on my own...

 

[Leros]

Do those little tiny cheap kits produce anything decent?

I wouldn't mind making a small batch but I don't have the space or money for a proper setup.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Originally posted by: Leros
Do those little tiny cheap kits produce anything decent?

I wouldn't mind making a small batch but I don't have the space or money for a proper setup.

The little one gallon "pigs" are a crap shoot but, a regular 5 or 6 gallon batch can turn out awesome brews. The liquid yeasts are almost bullet proof and most anyone can find a spot for a 6 gallon tub or carboy. Get of your butt and brew!

 

[mekon]

I did this with some beer/cider kits a few years ago and the kitchen space requirements aren't too bad whilst you're starting the brewing process, but all the way through the process (including fermentation which takes a few weeks) you need to have the space to store a 5 gallon container/keg without it getting in your way. To give you an easy comparison, that's enough space to stand in with about 70cm for the height. So if you have a table or desk you could put the brew underneath then you could save space. Cider is a little easier to make than beer, if I remember correctly, owing to fewer steps/ingredients. That's my experience based on kits that produce that volume. YMMV.

 

[djheater]

BTW, I use an aluminum brew-kettle. The AL vs SS debate continues to rage, but I'm a cheap bastard.

 

[deepred98]

Thanks for the interest :thumbsup:

To answer your various questions:

I will be bottling this in a week or two. Its supposed to give me around 50 longnecks worth of beer so woohoo!
I used bleach to sanitize everything then rinsed off with hot water.
I used an Al stockpot (didn't think there would be any difference... oops).
Cooled down the wort within 10 minutes using all the ice in my fridge.

The OG value before adding the yeast was 1.050 only .001 off from what they said it should be. In the last two days, the yeast has been fermenting up a storm so I should be able to transfer it to my carboy next tuesday or wednesday.

The only thing i am slightly worried about is that i licked the point of the thermometer once and put it back in the wort once (i couldn't resist some tasting lol)

Also for those interested the materials cost ~40 dollars (i went with the more expensive liquid yeast) and the equipment total was around 70 or 80 dollars

added 2 more pics btw (sorry about the cell phone pics but i haven't gotten around to getting a camera)

 

[Scarpozzi]

I started back in June. My first brew was a hefeweizen...it took it a month and a half in the bottle to mature to something I liked... My second brew was a German Light Beer...it was really good, but a little on the bitter side. I wish it were just a little lighter. I bottled an Amber ale 2 weeks ago and an Oktoberfest ale last Wednesday....so hopefully they'll be ready for a party next month. The Amber is a little hoppy for me, but should calm down in another 2-3 weeks in the bottle.

It's a fun hobby, but takes a lot of time to bottle and properly clean the equipment/bottles...I want to maybe get some kegging stuff, but am gonna wait to save up cash. Until then, bottles are portable and can be stored for months if you use the silver bottle caps that eat oxygen.

 

[child of wonder]

Wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for father's day and we just finished drinking the second batch.

After a few more batches (use up what I have) I'm going to start making my own wort instead of getting the pre-made stuff from Mr. Beer.

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
Wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for father's day and we just finished drinking the second batch.

After a few more batches (use up what I have) I'm going to start making my own wort instead of getting the pre-made stuff from Mr. Beer.

You should definitely try doing it from scratch. I've never done anything like this but with clear instructions from the guys at the store it was easy as pie. And extremely fun watching the grains, malt, and hops combine to form the basis for, hopefully, a delicious dark ale.

 

[deepred98]

Update: Moved to carboy so y'all can finally see the glory